Jim Kilpatrick MBE

Jim started playing drums at the age of 10. His progress was so rapid that within 2 years he was competing at the highest level in Grade 1 competition.

At the age of 15, he joined his present band, the House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band. It was at the age of 15 that Jim won his first World Drum Corps and World Pipe Band Championships, the first of Jim’s record 18 World Drum Corps Championships. Fourteen of these titles have been won as a leading drummer. This also includes winning the World Drum Corps Championship for an amazing record breaking 11 years in a row. Another record that Jim holds is that of being the only leading drummer ever to win the Grand Slam which is all 5 major drumming championships in the one season This run coincided with J him actually winning 13 major drumming championships in a row over 3 seasons.

Jim’s move into the solo drumming arena proved to be equally successful. He has smashed every record in the books by winning the World Solo Drumming Championships no less then 16 times.

Jim’s talent and reputation is such that he is continuously invited to teach in schools and colleges all over the world, as well as making countless appearances at drum clinics and percussion festivals around the world including The Royal School of Music (London & Glasgow) and The Percussion Arts Society Conventions in the USA. Jim currently teaches percussion students at the Royal School of Music in Glasgow and is also principal instructor for the BA Scottish Music (Percussion) course at the same school. Jim has received the “Life Time Achievement Award” for drumming from the British Chapter of the Percussion Arts Society in London.

In 2004, Jim was awarded the M.B.E for his services to music by Her Majesty The Queen in her birthday honours list - a significant milestone in any musician’s career, but completely unique to Jim in the world of pipe band snare drumming.

Gordon Brown

Gordon was born in Whitburn, West Lothian and from an early age showed a keen interest in Drumming. His Father, Tom, taught him on and off during those early years, but it was in 1976 at the age of 12, that he took it up seriously. He joined the Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia Novice Juvenile Band in November that year, where his dad was already teaching the youngsters and the then Grade 3 Corp In 1978, the Grade 3 Band was upgraded to Grade 2 and Gordon became a member of that Drum Corps.

Gordon and the Boghall Band were promoted to Grade 1 Status in 1980 and in their first season, they won the Cowal Drumming Championship. The next three seasons saw them lift a fine hat trick of World Drum Corps Championships; 1981, 82 and 83, as well as every other drumming award. This continued throughout the eighties and included another World Drumming Title in 1986.

In 1991, Gordon took over as Leading Drummer of the Grade 1 Corps from his dad and it didn’t take him long to win his first Major Drumming Award as Leading Drummer when the Corps won the European Drumming Title that same year. To date Gordon has won the Scottish, British, European and Cowal Championships on numerous occasions with both the Corps and as a Band.

In 1994, Gordon won the World Solo Drumming Championship and he repeated that feat in the 2002 event In between times he has regularly been placed in the top three

Since Gordon became involved in teaching, he has taught throughout Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Eire, Brittany, Switzerland, Denmark, South Africa, The United States and Canada. Through his achievements as a solo player and as leading drummer of the Grade 1 corps, he has had invitations from all over the World for teaching workshops and seminars. He is currently the Principal Drumming Instructor at The Strathallan School and The Glenalmond College, both in Perthshire.

Barry Wilson

Barry began his drumming career at the age of 10 and rapidly progressed to Grade One some 4 years later. Barry then began his playing career under Jim Kilpatrick within the newly vamped Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band and would remain there for the next 16 years.

In his time with Shotts every major championship was won several times over and totalled an amazing 40 major championship drumming titles. This included 12 World Drum Corps Championships, with 11 won consecutively, and a ‘Grand Slam’ of 5 titles in 1995 which took in an unbeaten run of 13 titles. Barry took over the reigns at the back for the Scottish Power Pipe Band in 2002 and in that first year took the corps to the top 6 of the Champion of Champions table where they continue to consolidate their position as a force in Grade 1.

Since his first appearance in 1987 at the World Solo Drumming Championships Barry has twice been Juvenile World Champion and been rarely out the top 6 in the adult section since, culminating in several top 4 spots, including a 4 place in his adult debut. Barry is also a past Glasgow and West of Scotland and Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway Adult Branch Champion, winning the latter when he was only 14.

Internationally, Barry has taught and performed extensively over the years in New Zealand, USA, France. Germany, Holland, Denmark, Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland, Eire and Canada.

Eric Ward

Eric came to Scotland in 1980 to join Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band and played in the late Alex Duthart’s legendary drum corps. Since then, Eric has become one of the top leading drummers in Grade 1, having led several drum corps at the highest level.
 

Eric was appointed leader of the Strathclyde Police Drum Corps in 1995 and since then Eric has successfully elevated the drum corps’ status to that of regular contenders for top drumming awards

Eric is also a successful solo competitor and is a regular contender and prize winner at the World Solo Drumming Championships.